Quint Kessenich's Top 20 and Analysis, Feb. 20

Notre Dame, Fairfield and Ohio State were the big winners. Virginia survived an upset bid from Drexel. Meanwhile, the America East struggled, going 0-4. Ivy action starts this weekend. It's just a poll.

1. Virginia - Survived Drexel, winning 9-8 behind Rob Fortunato's 11 stops during a month of distraction in Charlottesville because of the George Huguely murder trial. Virginia was outshot 41-24....it's not very often Virginia is held to a shot total this low. They took 26 in the 2011 NCAA title game. But you have to go back past 2005 for a shot total this low. Against Duke in April 2005, Virginia had 21 shots.

2. Cornell - Idle. The Big Red open the 2012 season at Hobart Saturday. Cornell's offense will be: Rob Pannell, Steve Mock, Connor English and Matt Donovan at attack, with Roy Lang, Chris Langton, Max Van Bourgondien, JJ Gilbane, Scott Austin and Mike O'Neil receiving midfield shifts. Mitch McMichael is a key piece of the puzzle for his work on faceoffs and EMO.

3. Notre Dame — The Irish have won 15 straight in February and for the third consecutive year beat Duke early in the season. Coach Kevin Corrigan utilized a trip to Orlando for a scrimmage with Team USA and the Irish have an indoor facility...two reasons why they were so sharp, so early. A 7-3 final where Duke shot a mere 3 of 37 shows how difficult it is to score on ND. Goalie John Kemp made 14 stops and held the Blue Devils scoreless for 40:24 in the middle of the game. ND has excellent midfield depth, athletes who are sturdy at both ends and I love their shorties: Devon Dobson, Jack Near Jr, Andrew Gleason and Quinn Cully. Penn State is next.

4. North Carolina — The Heels dusted Detroit Mercy 18-8 as RG Keenan continued his steam roll. The sophomore face-off man is now 48 of 61 (79%) after three games.

5. Johns Hopkins — The Blue Jays shut down Towson for over 27:00 minutes in the middle of the game on their way to a 12-6 win. Zach Palmer looked sharp scoring three goals and three assists. Chris Boland scored 4 goals and left the game. Trainers worked on his shoulder and then took him inside the locker room; he didn't finish the game. While JHU does not release injury information, I have a confirmed source that indicates he broke his collar bone and will be out 4 to 6 weeks. Hopkins misses Matt Dolente at the face-off stripe and looks very similar to the 2011 edition that went 13-3, but lost in the NCAA quarterfinals. Jays host Delaware on Tuesday at 5 p.m. (ESPNU).

6. Villanova — The Wildcats should have one of the better offenses in the country this spring. They beat Lehigh 17-7 on Saturday, shooting 17 of 40. Kevin Cunningham (5,2), Wll Casertano (4,1) and lefty Kevin O'Neil (1,4) sparkled. Nova hosts 0-2 Bucknell on February 25.

7. Duke — Typical Duke. Another February loss to Notre Dame. Another abysmal offensive performance early in the season (see a 7-3 loss to Penn in 2011). The Blue Devils will be a major factor in May but for now I'm forced to drop them behind some recent winners. I should have known better to make them a pre-season No. 1.

8. Syracuse — The defense looked dominant on Sunday afternoon scorching Albany 12-7. The Orange led 10-2 after three quarters. Positive start for a team with many new faces.

9. UMass — Will Manny had another big day as the Minutemen improved to 2-0, besting Bucknell. UMass is legit.

10. Maryland — After a slow start, the Terps beat Hartford 12-6. Curtis Holmes won 19 of 20 draws and midfielder John Haus had 2 goals, 2 assists. Good opener for a young Maryland team.

11. Loyola — Greyhounds took down Delaware 13-8 at home on Saturday. Eric Lusby had four goals, face-off man JP Dalton was a catalyst neutralizing Delaware's Dan Cooney, LSM Scott Ratcliff is a legit playmaker and close defender Joe Fletcher effectively shut down Grant Kaleikau. The Hounds host Towson Saturday.

12. Ohio State —After watching the Buckeyes practice it was apparent that they could and would compete with Denver. OSU has talent (Logan Schuss, Brock Sorenson, Dominique Alexander, Darius Bowling, Joe Meurer, Joe Bonani, Matt Kawamoto) and coach Nick Myers had a plan. Let's see how the Buckeyes manage success.

13. Denver — Team USA game in January was fools gold. The Pioneers cramped up late and their inexperience on defense showed. Coach Tierney and company will figure it out, DU remains loaded on offense.

14. Princeton — The Tigers can play defense. Can they score? Hofstra comes to town this week.

15. Penn State — Nittany Lions were a Week One loser to UNC and a Week Two winner against newbie Michigan. Winning 16-9 they outshot the Wolverines 43-26. Defensive midfielder Ryan Link has been playing at a high level. Five CAA teams appear to be in the mix for an NCAA bid. PSU plays ND this week, a team they lost to in 2011 by a score of 6-2.

16. Penn — The Quakers were 8-7 in 2011, advancing to NCAA tourney. Penn opesn up with Duke, a team they beat last year, on Friday. Duke lost to ND Saturday. Bad timing.

17. Drexel — The Dragons lost a nail biter with Virginia in Philly on Saturday.

18. Fairfield — Fairfield played for the ECAC title last year going (8-8) and playing in 12 games decided by two goals or less. They return an experienced bunch for coach Andy Copelan, and got off to a great start on Saturday beating Stony Brook behind five goals from Sam Snow and a 4 of 5 EMO performance.

19. Yale — Hosts St. John's on Saturday.

20. Hofstra — Opened with an unimpressive 11-9 win over Sacred Heart. The game was tied 5-5 at half and the Pioneers (pre-season No. 55) outshot the Flying Dutchmen 33-30. Lance Yapor scored four goals in the win. Hofstra plays at Princeton on Saturday.

Quint Kessenich covers lacrosse for the ESPN networks and Inside Lacrosse. He welcomes your emails at quint@insidelacrosse.com. ESPNU will be televising Delaware at Hopkins on Tuesday Feb. 21 at 5 p.m.